Language translation based on a location of a wireless device

• US 8,041,555 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2007
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Buccella, Christopher J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Azad; Abul K
• Application Number:
  US11/839,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20090048820A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,525 Days
• Field of Search: 704 1- 10
• US Class Current: 704/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging

Abstract

A method, information processing system, and wireless communication device that translate text within an image captured by a wireless device. At least one image (114) is received image from a wireless device (104). A location where the image (114) was captured by the wireless device (104) is determined. A set of text characters is identified (414) within the image (114). A language associated with the set of text characters is determined (416) based on at least the location that has been determined. The set of text characters is translated (418) into a language that is different than language that has been determined.

Claims

1. A method, with an information processing system, for translating text within an image captured by a wireless device, the method comprising:

receiving at least one image from a wireless device;

determining a location where the image was captured by the wireless device;

identifying a set of text characters within the image;

determining a language associated with the set of text characters based on at least the location that has been determined;

determining a language context associated with the location that has been determined;

identifying at least one word within a language dictionary associated with the language context;

generating a prioritized language dictionary based on the at least one location and the language context that has been determined, wherein the generating comprises assigning a higher priority to the word associated with the language context than words in the language dictionary associated with other language contexts; and

translating the set of text characters into a language that is different than language that has been determined based on the prioritized language dictionary that has been generated, wherein the word that has been assigned a higher priority is selected from the prioritized language dictionary to translate the set of text characters over other words in the prioritized language dictionary that have been assigned a lower priority.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the set of characters that have been translated to the wireless device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sending further comprises:

placing a voice call to the wireless device where the translated set of characters is read to a user via a text-to-speech module.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sending further comprises:

sending the translated set of characters to the wireless device by at least one of;

an email message;

a text message; and

a multimedia message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the language further comprises:

analyzing a given number of characters in the set of characters to determine the language associated with the set of text characters.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location further comprises:

identifying location data associated with the image;

querying a location database with the location data that has been identified; and

receiving a location from the location database in response to the querying.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the location data comprises at least one of:

Global Positioning Satellite coordinates;

wireless device triangulation data; and

an Internet Protocol address associated with the wireless device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location further comprises:

analyzing a historical location database associated with the wireless device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating further comprises:

identifying a type of establishment associated with the location that has been determined; and

translating the set of text characters based on the type of establishment that has been identified.

10. An information processing system for translating text within an image captured by a wireless device, the information processing system comprising:

a memory;

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory;

a translation manager communicatively coupled to the memory and the processor, wherein the translation manager is configured to perform a method comprising;

receiving at least one image from a wireless device;

determining a location where the image was captured by the wireless device;

identifying a set of text characters within the image;

determining a language associated with the set of text characters based on at least the location that has been determined;

determining a language context associated with the location that has been determined;

identifying at least one word within a language dictionary associated with the language context;

generating a prioritized language dictionary based on the at least one location and the language context that has been determined, wherein the generating comprises assigning a higher priority to the word associated with the language context than words in the language dictionary associated with other language contexts; and

translating the set of text characters into a language that is different than language that has been determined based on the prioritized language dictionary that has been generated, wherein the word that has been assigned a higher priority is selected from the prioritized language dictionary to translate the set of text characters over other words in the prioritized language dictionary that have been assigned a lower priority.

11. The information processing system of claim 10, wherein the translation manager is further adapted to:

send the set of characters that have been translated to the wireless device.

12. The information processing system of claim 10, wherein the determining the language further comprises:

analyzing a given number of characters in the set of characters to determine the language associated with the set of text characters.

13. The information processing system of claim 10, wherein the determining the location further comprises:

identifying location data associated with the image;

querying a location database with the location data that has been identified; and

receiving a location from the location database in response to the querying.

14. The information processing system of claim 10, wherein the translating further comprises:

identifying a type of establishment associated with the location that has been determined; and

translating the set of text characters based on the type of establishment that has been identified.

15. A wireless communication system for translating text within an image captured by a wireless device, the wireless communication system comprising:

a plurality of base stations;

a plurality of wireless devices, wherein each wireless device in the plurality wireless devices is communicatively coupled to a base station in the plurality of base stations;

an information processing system communicatively coupled to at least one base station in the plurality of base stations;

wherein the information processing system comprises;

a memory;

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory;

a translation manager communicatively coupled to the memory and the processor, wherein the translation manager is configured to perform a method comprising;

receiving at least one image from a wireless device;

determining a location where the image was captured by the wireless device;

identifying a set of text characters within the image;

determining a language associated with the set of text characters based on at least the location that has been determined;

determining a language context associated with the location that has been determined;

identifying at least one word within a language dictionary associated with the language context;

generating a prioritized language dictionary based on the at least one location and the language context that has been determined, wherein the generating comprises assigning a higher priority to the word associated with the language context than words in the language dictionary associated with other language contexts; and

translating the set of text characters into a language that is different than language that has been determined based on the prioritized language dictionary that has been generated, wherein the word that has been assigned a higher priority is selected from the prioritized language dictionary to translate the set of text characters over other words in the prioritized language dictionary that have been assigned a lower priority.

16. The wireless communication system of claim 15, wherein the translation manager is further adapted to:

send the set of characters that have been translated to the wireless device.

17. The wireless communication system of claim 15, wherein the determining the language further comprises:

analyzing a given number of characters in the set of characters to determine the language associated with the set of text characters.

18. The wireless communication system of claim 15, wherein the determining the location further comprises:

identifying location data associated with the image;

querying a location database with the location data that has been identified; and

receiving a location from the location database in response to the querying.

19. The wireless communication system of claim 18, wherein the location data comprises at least one of:

Global Positioning Satellite coordinates;

wireless device triangulation data; and

an Internet Protocol address associated with the wireless device.

20. The wireless communication system of claim 15, wherein the translating further comprises:

identifying a type of establishment associated with the location that has been determined; and

translating the set of text characters based on the type of establishment that has been identified.